King Charles marks Holocaust Memorial Day

The King paid tribute to Holocaust survivors today, saying those who are gone are ‘with us in spirit’, as he and the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace marking Holocaust Memorial Day.

Holocaust survivors and their families, with representatives from organisations protecting the memory of the Holocaust, first joined Charles in the East Wing, where they viewed portraits of survivors commissioned by Charles in 2022 when he was the Prince of Wales. 

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. 

Last year, Charles became the first British monarch to visit the camp, marking 80 years since its liberation. 

The day commemorates the six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and the millions more murdered under Nazi persecution.

Charles was first greeted by Helen Aronson, 98, a survivor of the Lodz ghetto in Poland. 

As he bent down to kiss her in her wheelchair, in front of her portrait by Paul Benney who painted the Queen’s Coronation portrait, Helen, grasping his hand, asked how he was. 

‘All the better for seeing you,’ he laughed. ‘Thank you so much for the invitation, keep well,’ she told him.

Other guests meeting Charles included Rachel Levy, 95, a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, another survivor of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen and a celebrated cellist who survived Auschwitz by playing in the camp’s orchestra.

Last July, Charles visited her at home in north London for her 100th birthday. ‘You were so wonderful to come and see me,’ she told him, seated in a wheelchair in front of her portrait by Peter Kuhfeld, who painted Charles’s coronation portrait.

‘It was a bit of a business,’ he laughed. ‘He did me, you know,’ Charles said, motioning to the painting. 

Anita recalled Charles’s passion for the cello when he was younger: ‘You used to play the cello and support a lot of orchestras,’ she said. ‘I did – and I’ve added a lot of orchestras since.’

Charles also met several relatives of survivors who are no longer alive, including Shary and Rafi Goldberg, the widow and son of Manfred Goldberg who died last year, a survivor of Stutthof camp in Poland who was a staunch campaigner for Holocaust awareness. 

In a sweet moment, Charles was introduced to Zigi Harrod, two, the great-grandson of the late Zigi Shipper, another survivor of Stutthof and close friend of Manfred’s, who died in 2023. 

‘Where’s the King?’ Zigi called out as Charles made his way down the room to meet the toddler, standing on a chair. ‘Hello,’ said Charles. ‘Hello back,’ said Zigi, presenting Charles with his toy monkey, Fergus. 

With him were his mother, Emma Harrod, the late Zigi’s granddaughter and his daughters Lorraine Lawrence and Michelle Richman. 

Standing in front of Zigi’s portrait, Lorraine said of the survivors who are no longer alive: ‘We feel like they should all be with us today.’ Charles replied: ‘They are in spirit.’

Charles was then joined by Camilla outside the palace’s Centre Room, to light two candles in an act of remembrance. 

As they were handed lit tapers by Rachel Levy, Camilla accidentally dropped hers on the carpet, prompting her to briefly get the giggles. Charles remained straight-faced.

In the Centre Room, they were joined by other guests including representatives from some of their patronages who are working to educate future generations including the Holocaust Memorial Trust, young ambassadors from the Anne Frank Trust UK and the Holocaust Educational Trust. 

The theme for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘Bridging Generations’, encouraging younger generations to ‘listen, learn and carry forward the lessons from the Holocaust’.

Chatting to Arek Hersh, 97, an Auschwitz survivor who campaigns for the Holocaust Educational Trust, Camilla, who has met him before, joked: ‘You never get any older!’ 

Charles also spoke with Max Snijders, a Holocaust survivor who had travelled from his care home in Amsterdam for the reception. ‘I hope we looked after you,’ Charles told him.